New Starts
by SniperCT
Summary: In the wake of Overwatch's fall, everything seems hopeless. But there's always hope, as long as people are willing to fight for it. Hope for the New Year.


Before it hit the news like a freight train, it was a leaky faucet. A steady drip of bad news and rumors and impassioned speeches by those who still believed in the ideal. Angela, Lena and Winston, mostly, trying desperately to hold things together. Angela frayed first, and Emily could see Lena cracking too. Emily didn't talk to her the day the London crew turned over their badges and access codes and walked out. Lena wasn't answering her calls.

The freight train came the next day. The explosion at the main HQ, the airing of Overwatch's dirty laundry and the resulting fallout cast a shadow over decades of good work. The reputations of two dead men and the organization they'd built were in tatters.

It left a sick pit in Emily's stomach. And Lena still wasn't answering her calls. No matter what happened or what was said, Emily knew that Lena had been as much in the dark as she had been. She just didn't know what was going to happen. What a world without Overwatch would be like, and if there'd be anyone who would step up if needed.

Emily had always been a hopeful woman. Dating Lena had only brought that out more. But she didn't feel very hopeful as days turned to weeks and the new year approached. It felt, really, like everything was going to get worse. And the longer Lena ignored her, the more it hurt. She thought she might never see her again.

Until Lena showed up on her doorstep. Emily was fully prepared to yell at her for worrying her for so long. And she would have, if Lena hadn't been wobbling on her feet and looked like she hadn't eaten, slept, or showered in weeks. Instead of yelling, she wrapped her up in a hug. Lena's life had been overwatch. What did it feel like to have one's entire purpose for being collapse?

After ensuring that Lena had eaten, showered and slept (in that order), Emily sat down with her on the couch and pulled Lena tight against her.

"I'm sorry."

Emily frowned. "It's okay." It really wasn't.

"No, it's not. I shoulda at least...left you a message or sommat." Lena turned her head towards Emily, tears threatening to spill again. "I just...it's all over. Everything I done for nothing. Didn't know how to face you. What to do. I was kinda mad that you quit but I guess that turned out to be a good thing."

"Anyone with Overwatch on their resume is going to have a hard time of it," Emily replied. No one had responded to her applications. "But who you are, what you do, that's still good. We can find a way to reinvent ourselves. Without losing who we are."

Lena leaned her head on Emily's shoulder. "Whatcha think, next year has gotta be better, right?"

"Are you going to stop fighting?"

The question surprised Lena, and more so because she didn't really know the answer to that. Should she give up? Stop being a hero? Overwatch was gone, and any heroic activity would be frowned upon. Or illegal. Or was it really illegal if she was freelance? She sat up, and looked down at Emily. "Do you want me to?"

"Lena, you're a fighter, you're hope embodied." If Lena gave up, what hope was there for anyone else?

"The world always needs more heroes," Lena whispered. She wiped at her cheeks. "I don't think I'll gotta figure out a way to go about it."

"In that case, next year has to get better. As long as we keep fighting." Emily pulled Lena down into a kiss, tangling her fingers in Lena's soft, short hair.

The world needed heroes, but heroes needed people to be _their_ heroes too. And Emily was one of Lena's. Not the kind of hero she'd looked up to, like the dearly departed Ana Amari, or Winston. But Emily was smart and funny, and kind. And as filled with hope as Lena was. Emily was the face of the people Lena fought so hard for, and she loved her very much.

Fireworks started going off over the Thames as their kiss deepened. Lena whimpered when Emily nipped her lip. She whimpered again when she found herself on her back, Emily pinning her to the cushion. This was new. This was nice.

Emily whispered something against Lena's lips, and kissed her again.

"What was that?" Lena ran her hands down Emily's sides as her heart threatened to beat out of her chest.

"Stay the night?" Emily asked. She didn't want to let Lena go, ever again.

"Sure, I can camp out on the couch." She pressed her nose to Emily's, grinning.

"Lena," Laughing, Emily straddled her. "I mean _stay the night_."

"Stay the… Oh." Lena's eyes widened. " _Oh_! I ...ah…" She giggled. A new start to a new year? Maybe they really could make it better. "I'd like that!"


End file.
